LG Optimus G vs Nokia 808 PureView #BOTF12 Round 2

After a resounding victory for the Nexus 4 over the Apple iPhone 5, here comes the first battle of the penultimate round of Battle of the flagships 2012. After the round 1, four devices have emerged as winners, two from one sided battles and the other two from fierce neck to neck battles. The ones from the fierce neck to neck battle have been chosen as the first candidates for this battle. Yes, LG Optimus G won by a narrow 30 votes vs the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Nokia 808 PureView won against the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 by a even narrower 20 votes. To keep it fair, we have been running all the polls for exactly 48 hours, making sure they are to the point. With that said, lets dive into the battle between the LG Optimus G vs Nokia 808 PureView!

LG Optimus G vs Nokia 808 PureView

We had already seen how the LG Optimus G has been for LG, in terms of concept and the flagship status. We had also clearly mentioned how this device meant so much for them, being their awakening device. Meanwhile the Nokia 808 PureView has been Nokia’s last Symbian flagship that wowed everyone with its camera prowess. More or less, both these devices are very different but it is their duty to fight and that’s what they will, I mean, we will make them do.

Lets quickly take a look at the highlights of both these devices from the earlier posts. Do note that both the highlights are specific to their device types.

LG Optimus G –

4.7 inch 1280×768 IPS TFT zero gap display, easily one of the best

1.5 GHz Quad core Snapdragon S4 PRO processor

Fresh new design with a glass backing and a pattern

13 MP camera

Currently runs Android ICS

Nokia 808 PureView –

World’s first 41 MP sensor with a size of 1/1.2″

5 element Carl Zeiss optics

Oversampling technology enables stunning imagery at 100%

Lossless zooming in stills and video enabled by oversampling

4 inch nHD 640×360 CBD AMOLED display

As you can see above, the LG Optimus G is a better well rounded device than the Nokia 808 PureView which is more or less a one trick pony, with the camera being the trick. But it is important to note that the 808 PureView is a market disruption and a crazy innovation that has left other manufacturers stranded in the camera department. But is that enough to make it a flagship of the year? Hard to convince, eh? Lets take a look at both the device specifications side by side in detail then.

Overall design and aesthetics –

While this is a highly subjective matter, we can attest some advantage to Nokia because the build quality and the construction is definitely better on the 808 with its curved 2.5D screen, polycarbonate casing with removable battery case, while the LG back is made of glass and is easily cracked. But it is important to note that the Optimus G is one of the better looking LG devices ever made with way better quality of materials used.

Display –

The Optimus G has a 4.7 inch 1280×720 IPS Zero gap display and it is certainly one of the best we have seen, while the 808 PureView has a 4 inch CBD AMOLED 640×360 display, which is not too bad, but the LG device blows it out of the water, no doubt about that. If you think otherwise, you have to remove that tin foil hat of yours.

Internals –

The Optimus G is the first flagship device to feature the new Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, running at 1.5 GHz with 4 cores. The 808 PureView on the other hand has a 1.3 GHz single core ARM11 processor that is ancient, like its OS. Certainly nothing modern about it, but hey, it works. Lets just say that the LG Optimus G has top notch internals, with copious amount of RAM required to make Android run like Sonic the hedgehog. You can decide who wins in this department.

Camera –

This is where the Nokia 808 PureView absolutely demolishes the living hell out of any other smartphone in this world. With stunning optics, a huge sensor, proprietary algorithms for oversampling that enables loss free zooming and amazing picture clarity, it is a winning cameraphone and easily the world’s best in stills and video. Meanwhile the Optimus G is a decent camera unit, but there is nothing special about it. It is subpar even compared to the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 5, which hold their own when it comes to camera performance. So, there you go, on paper, or on scientific tests, the 808 PureView is the winner, no doubt about it.

Software –

The LG Optimus G runs Android 4.0.4 ICS, which is quite old now, but as usual, they have promised an update to Jellybean soon. Meanwhile Symbian Belle FP2 runs on the Nokia 808 PureView. Need I say more?

Above comparison is mainly for letting you form some thoughts on which device you want to vote for. The Optimus G is a well rounded device and it is the one that led to Google signing them up for the Google Nexus 4, which recently won against the Apple iPhone 5 in the last battle of Round 1. The Nokia 808 PureView is Nokia’s way of saying “This is what we can do, ha!” and remains a great proof of concept device cementing Nokia’s supremacy in the smartphone camera department. So, which one would you vote for?

The 808 has done it again, it is now a contender for the ultimate crown and is in the finals!